Hackers threaten to leak Ashley Madison’s database of over 37 million

It seems the clientele of international online dating site Ashley Madison will join the many A-list celebrities and public figures that have fallen victim to hacking scandals.

Hackers have claimed to be in possession of more than 37 million clients’ details from are threatening to release the client’s indecent photos and personal information, including sexual fantasies, credit card information and real names, unless it is shut down.

With the site’s slogan encouraging users that ‘Life is short. Have an affair’, it seems that the hackers are personally attacking a group who they believe should be brought to justice. The hackers are also targeting similar websites Established Men and CougarLife owned by Ashley Madison’s Canadian parent company Avid Media Life, demanding their closures. Interestingly, the hackers have not threatened the company’s comparable website CougarLife, which accommodates female members searching for young men.

The instance was initially reported on Sunday by Brian Krebs of Krebs on Security, a website that concentrates on cyber security. Despite the hacking scandal, Avid Media Life has ensured its clients that it is involved with an incredibly affiliated IT Security team to take ‘every possible step toward mitigating the attack.’

The team behind the attack are reportedly called The Impact Team, have already posted photos of account data, maps of internal company servers, employee network account information, company bank account data and salary information.

The act, that has not only targeted Ashley Madison but also Established Men and CougarLife, has been deemed as ‘cyber-terrorism’ in a statement released early on Monday morning by Avid Life Media.

CEO has suppressed the panic surrounding the threats by reassuring clients that they know who the culprit was, believing “It was definitely a person here that was not an employee but certainly had touched our technical services.” Although Avid Life has made apologies to its clients, they still have not disclosed exactly what information was stolen.